Legislation

Each legislative session, dozens of bills are introduced, and a number of them passed, which counteract the important work of criminal justice reform, as these new crimes and increased sentences are often arbitrary and almost always unnecessary.

The ACLU has consistently opposed the imposition of mandatory minimum sentencing terms on the grounds that they are ineffective, costly, eliminate individualized consideration of the offender and the offense, and place too much power in the hands of prosecutors instead of neutral judges.

We suggested several amendments to legislation which would have allowed the state police to create a comprehensive, statewide records management program.

Nothing encapsulated the issue of the “statehouse to prison pipeline” better in the 2018 session than the general assembly’s passage of legislation which would punish by up to a year in prison any person who “maliciously teases” a police horse or canine.

We supported this legislation which would have authorized the expungement of criminal convictions related to the possession of marijuana, presumably in conjunction with the legalization of the drug.

This legislation would have statutorily mandated a study to determine whether these racial disparities exist in both the process to obtain a state license to sell marijuana and in arrest and conviction rates for marijuana-related crimes.

This legislation would have ensured that an individual’s prior criminal record is not the sole measure by which an applicant is disqualified for a license, and would have created a comprehensive process for determining the relevancy of a conviction to the license being sought.